Mere Phantasy

by Ashley Lauren

  He was furiously tearing through the vegetation around us now, so much so that in a few more minutes, there wouldn’t be a single strand standing in an entire circumference around him.

  The curve of his upper lip twitched in annoyance. “So I finally found you, but yeah, you grew up. I’d been trying for years to get ahold of you in your dreams, but they were too powerful for me, only letting me come as a figure rather than a messenger.”

  “Wait, who are ‘they?’” I interjected, the nervous pit in my stomach dropping immediately, but he was on a ranting roll, veins in his neck throbbing with anger.

  “So when I couldn’t reach you through them, I decided to find you myself. But do you know how hard it is to find someone who doesn’t believe anymore? You used to be so easy to pinpoint. I could always find you no matter where you went because I fed off of you.”

  “What?” My eyes widened, startled. Was he some sort of vampire on top of being a weird pervert? “What the heck does that mean?”

  But he ignored me. “Neverland had been treated by your belief so well and for so long that it couldn’t thrive off of anything else unless I got you. I had to bring you here to save it.” His blue eyes jumped to meet mine, a fervent icy color compared to their original cool shade. “Neverland is going to die if you don’t believe in it, Lacey… And me with it.”

  Thirteen

  “Now I know I’m going crazy.” I grabbed for my forehead and slammed my eyes shut, trying to block out all he’d just overwhelmed me with. How on Earth did someone reply to something like that?

  Peter crawled to worriedly look me over. “Neverberries, I said too much. I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

  “No!” I encouraged, but my head was still spinning rapidly. “I-I just… This is blowing my mind.”

  “It’s what?” he asked, face turning an unnatural shade of white.

  “It’s a figure of speech.” I tried to reassure him, but he still looked uneasy. Deciding to change the subject back to really important matters at hand, I worked to calm my shaking hands by pressing them into my lap and taking a breath. “Okay, so you’re saying other than right now and this past, awful week, I’ve been here before?”

  Peter nodded vigorously.

  Biting my lip, I tried to ignore the feelings I’d experienced since arriving in this place, since the magic had started to consume me. But the “feelings” I experienced in the good parts of my dreams and nightmares—or when Peter was close to me. I began to realize just like when the Lost Boy would appear inside of them, then it might actually have been… familiarity, not imagination I was experiencing. Reminders of this place and the tingling sensations it gave. Just sitting in this field was enough to make my heart race more than usual and my blood pump faster in my ears.

  And that was crazy. Absolutely insane.

  But it also meant… I might not have been the only insane one in the equation, like I had always thought.

  Just as a wave of relief washed over me, one I hadn’t felt for as long as I could remember (which, apparently, wasn’t that long), I caught myself before I showed Peter my excitement. Because there must’ve been a good reason I’d left in the first place and, even more importantly, why I chose to grow up instead of remember a place like this.

  “But as far back as I can go in my memories, I’ve had my dreams. Why don’t I have them here, Peter? And why did I choose them over staying in… Neverland?” The muscles of my throat swelled tighter with every second Peter’s eyes watched the ground and not me. He was hiding something from me, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the answer. “Peter…?”

  “A lot happened.” His dirty fingertips dipped into the grass near his feet. “A lot of things that if you would’ve just chosen to stay here, with us…” His voice strained. “With me… would’ve been okay. But because you left, they only got worse.”

  “So they just… came with me. These ‘things,’ they came after me, into my dreams instead?”

  When Peter didn’t answer, I was startled with the confirmation of all I’d just guessed. The torments in my dreams, evil, disgusting creatures and situations that mentally chased me, tortured my family, and ate children—all these things followed me into the real world? Even after I decided to free myself of the fake one?

  “Wait… does that mean…?” My heart jumped into my throat then at the realization that Peter didn’t even have to agree with for me to comprehend. I covered my mouth as panic started to well up inside me. “T-that means everything from my nightmares is here…” I shuddered in fear. Peter couldn’t even meet my gaze. “In Neverland?”

  “Lace—”

  Before Peter could reply, I was on my feet, pointing down at him. “You brought me back to the land of my nightmares?”

  I’d never seen Peter’s eyes so wide. “Wait. Hold on. I can—”

  But this was the last straw. I could take the confusion. In fact, I would’ve preferred to know nothing about this place at this point. I should never have asked. I should’ve kept my big mouth shut. Now I knew the darkness—the evil—from all I’d been terrorized by as a kid, it was all real.

  And though I’d tried so hard to escape, I was trapped now. And it was all Peter Pan’s fault.

  Whirling on him, I felt the strong throb of adrenaline pumping in my ears. “You should’ve left me back home! A-at least the horrors were only figments of my imagination there,” I bellowed, marching toward him. Peter zipped up from his sitting position and continued to step away from me as I advanced toward him. “You brought me through a mirror and didn’t even think to ask for my consent!”

  “Whoa, whoa, Lacey. I think you should just calm down for a second and think about this. B-besides, the second star to the right was closed, the Fauna was the only other way—”

  I practically self-destructed right then and there. “Calm down? Calm down?”

  Warmth began to ignite in my chest, buzzing like all the anger inside me. Truthfully, I wanted to hurt Peter at this moment. How dare he make me live out my nightmares in a real-life situation? What if I died? What if all the darkness I’d been sensing around me had plans to take out its revenge on me? Did he realize what horrible, detesting things were even in my dreams?

  Just as I was about to scream at him again, and possibly choke the ridiculous life out of him as well, Peter dodged out of my way and completely disappeared from my sight. Just poof, gone.

  Immediately, I grew angrier, screaming out his name as I turned in all directions. But there was no sign of him as far as the eye could see.

  Though, I didn’t think to look up.

  “I’m not coming down until you calm down and control that thing!”

  Squinting into the sun, I used my hand to shield my eyes and follow where his voice had come from. About ten feet above me, Peter floated—literally hovered—in midair, curling his legs up into his chest and peeking over the edge of his knees.

  He was flying.

  As I curled my fingers into fists, geared up to yell at him again (because—I don’t know—how else do you respond to someone flying over your head?), something below my chin caught my eye, and I looked down just in time to see my locket alight with a red hue and softly vibrating as it drifted off my neck and into the air. The only thing keeping it anchored was its clasp.

  “Peter…” I mumbled warily, eyes wide as I watched the necklace, body completely frozen in place. “P-Peter, what’s happening?”

  “I don’t know!” he called down from above. “But I have a feeling it has something to do with magic.”

  After Peter finally came down (it was like trying to get a spooked cat down from a tree) and my locket went completely inanimate again (Google search of the year: Can lockets become possessed?), I took it off, threw it into the dirt, and then we both sat and watched it for a good five minutes to see if anything else happened.

  Never taking my eyes from the enchanted jewelry, I said, “So you can fly.”

  Peter’s eyes didn’t leave my n
ecklace either. “Yeah, kind of one of the perks of being Peter Pan and all.” After a few silent moments, the only sound around us being the wind brushing over the peaceful field, his voice was emotionless when he commented, “So you have a magical necklace that’s way more important than we originally thought.”

  “Guess so.”

  There was another bout of quiet that overtook us, and neither of us thought to speak, too scared the necklace might come back to life at any moment.

  “Did your necklace ever do this—whatever this is—before we came through the Fauna?”

  “I think this would have to be a first for us.” When nothing happened, I broke out of my trance and touched my chest where the pendant usually sat. “So what’re we going to do about it?”

  Surveying the pendant once more, Peter bit his lower lip. “I think I’ll have Lox take you to Merlin’s place tomorrow. He might know what… exactly just happened.”

  “Merlin?” I asked. “As in—”

  “The wizard.” Peter nodded. “Yeah, him.”

  “Right, that makes perfect sense.”

  With one last look at my mother’s locket, Peter got up and ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a deep breath. “Okay. I was planning on re-teaching you how to fly today—”

  “Re-teaching me how to what?” I asked.

  Peter ignored me, too lost in his thoughts. “But things definitely just got a little too weird for that.”

  “Weird? Are you sure? Because of all the things I’ve been through in the last week, my necklace coming alive seems to be the least of the weird things.” I snorted, completely past the point of being overwhelmed.

  As I was tugging at a long strand of my destroyed, knotted mass of disaster I called hair, Peter stepped forward and reached down to pick up my locket. When the jewelry didn’t burn his hands or try to choke him with the chain, he turned to me and held it, limply, in front of my face.

  “I think you need to wear it again.”

  I blinked. “You really are insane.”

  “If this thing really is magical, you somehow got it to activate, and we need to make sure if it’s powerful, it doesn’t get into the wrong hands, all right?” Glancing over my worried expression, he tried to reassure me. “Your necklace has never come to life before now, that we know of, and unless you get irrationally angry, which is what seemed to trigger it—”

  “Hey—”

  “Then I think it’ll stay normal. Just don’t…”

  “Show any emotions?” I offered blandly.

  He snapped his free fingers. “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I yanked the necklace from his grasp and then moved to put it on blindly. Usually, it never left my neck, but when it did, I always had a mirror to help me. Now I was embarrassingly struggling while trying to unite the two strands at the nape of my neck.

  Rolling his eyes, Peter stepped over to me. “Here, let me do it.” Pushing my hair to the side, Peter’s fingers left a prickling feeling of warmth as they fumbled with the necklace’s clasp on such a sensitive part of my skin. When he stepped back, satisfied with his work, I let out the breath I’d been holding in. He had such a weird power over me, one I didn’t like.

  Blame it on the stupid magic, I thought. Shaking off the shivers, I moved my hair back into place.

  Peter was grinning with amusement.

  “What?” I instantly thought he noticed his effect on me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I just can’t believe you’re back is all.” He cleared his throat, moving to scratch behind his neck. Standing up straight again. He offered with a wink, “Now what do you say we go check on that boyfriend of yours after we get some grub?”

  It was uncomfortably hot in the hideout, but I assumed that was from all of Lox’s temper seeping out through her ears.

  “You can’t seriously be sending me to Merlin’s with her tomorrow,” she growled, the tip of her nice teeth poised together in order for her to hiss. The apples of her cheeks were dark, matching the anger flaring in her eyes.

  As for me, I was on the other side of the hideout, awkwardly sitting next to the boy who had beaten me up (and stolen from me) on the Jolly Roger and, even more specifically, next to the boy who was currently passed out cold and completely foreign to all of us, while also holding a small loaf of bread in my hand. I thought it might be inappropriate to ask for cereal in a place like this, and not only was I terrified of what strange foods might pop up here, but also what would happen if they actually had what I wanted. Green beans that floated when you tried to put them into your mouth, maybe? Or how about chicken nuggets that came to life right there on your plate? So because I was uncertain what weird food battles I might face if I asked, I opted for one battle that seemed the most universal to obtain—carbs.

  Chewing thoughtfully and looking over at the lump on the bed we were now calling our “guest,” I realized it’d been unbelievably strange (and stupid) that I’d decided to save a thief like Zane. After everything, there was no explanation as to why I’d done what I had. Earlier, he’d fallen asleep after the fairies brought him to the Nevertree, following his release from the hospital, and I still wasn’t sure whether I thought this was an okay idea (not like anything in here was really okay to begin with), but I went ahead with it because it was already done.

  As I was shoving the bread in my mouth, rapidly trying to satisfy my hunger (the pixie dust could only hold someone over for so long), I heard Peter reply to Lox evenly. “I need her to know more about Neverland, get her believing again. Merlin is good at that. He’ll know what her locket is about.”

  “I’m your apprentice, Peter, not your dog walker.”

  “I’m literally twenty feet from you!” I called over to them.

  Lox turned and glared at me as if she were about to give me a piece of her mind, but Peter stopped her.

  “Since you’re my apprentice, then you’ll understand just how important it is she gets to Merlin while I talk to Jack and the troops,” he explained, flitting over the ground now that he’d exposed to his flying abilities. Apparently, he’d waited to show me until he absolutely had to, and now that I knew, he felt a lot more relaxed.

  It was still hard not to stare when he did it, though, no matter how many times he explained it earlier. “I believe a lot, Lace, and… I dunno. It just happens… It’s like an unlimited supply of pixie dust. I guess Barrie liked me a lot.”

  Whatever that meant.

  I was still utterly confused as to how he knew his creator, the author of his story, J.M. Barrie, and how he was perfectly accepting of the fact he was considered fake in my world. It was also really mind-boggling he could fly in the first place. I still had so many questions, but Peter would just brush them off, apparently meeting his quota for the day only after two or three, and would completely change the subject when I asked. So I was trying to remember them all for tomorrow, when he would hopefully be eager to answer some more.

  As I was observing my locket in my hand, I jumped as a groan escaped Zane’s lips. Getting up from my stool, I peered down at him, wondering if he was going to wake up and I’d have to confront him. After about ten seconds of him moving about, face flopping from one side to the other, Zane went still again, snoring softly.

  I let out a breath of relief.

  “You ready to go, Lace?” Peter asked, flying up to stand beside me with a smile on his lips.

  Wide-eyed, like I’d been for the past hour, I dumbly looked between my locket and Zane, feeling a bit braindead. “Uh, yeah, sure…” I rubbed my eyes. “Where are we going, exactly?”

  “To—”

  Lox was beside us in a moment, sour face and all. “Oh no, nuh-uh. I am not watching this sack of drool.” With the toe of her boot, she nudged one of Zane’s large feet that hung off the side of the small bed.

  I still had no idea whose bed it was, but it was the only actual cot amidst the other hanging hammocks. I assumed it was most likely Mitch’s, since Pe
ter’s bed was in one of the two back rooms of the hideout, and he was the tallest of the Lost Boys, other than Peter. Where was I going to sleep? I didn’t know this either, but even though I’d slept dreamlessly again in the hospital the night before, I still felt utterly exhausted now.

  “He’s probably going to be out for another few hours, and we’ll be back before then,” Peter told her, eying Zane from over my shoulder before nodding in agreement with himself. “You’ll be fine.”

  “I didn’t sign up for this, Pan!” Lox called after us as we headed toward the hideout’s roots to leave.

  Peter shook his head in annoyance, but there was a smirk on his face. “No one signed up for this. Yet here we are!” he replied, exasperated, grinning, and sent her a wink before ushering me to leave again.

  When I looked back at Lox, who was huffing with her arms over her chest now, and then to Zane passed out beside her on the bed, Peter caught on and tried to put one of his hands on my shoulder in reassurance. “He’ll be fine. The pixie dust just affects others differently. And if he wakes up, Lox will just have Tink give him another good spray to hold him over until we’re back.”

  “Tink,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Is she going to keep attacking me?”

  Peter chuckled, motioning for me to follow him, but he didn’t answer. Which freaked me out.

  As we silently rose out of the magic hideout, I pulled at some of my hair and tried not to let any more panic come over me. I’d already stressed myself to the max, and worrying about a little demon fairy wasn’t helping fix that.

  After we’d made it out of the hideout and up into the woods, Peter grabbed my arm gently to stop me from almost tripping over a rock. I thanked him sheepishly, mentally cursing at myself to pay more attention, but I still felt as if my mind were in a daze.

  “I think I’m in shock.”

  Per usual, he ignored this. “Lacey.” His voice was low. “We need to practice. The war’s coming soon, and you’re not anywhere close to being ready for it. You’ll get slaughtered out there.”